mainstreetexile 

Nice score! I saw that on craigslist and actually emailed the guy about it, he wrote back last night and said he sold it yesterday. I'm glad somebody else got it since I didn't really need it and I was thinking of getting for parts and to have a backup frame

neo_pop_71

Yep, that was the one but there was no way I was giving him his asking price for a bike that came out of the dumpster, I did take it off his hands and he was a starving college student but I'm a cheap ol' bastard and I knew I was going to part it out in my pursuit of a drop bar conversion. Compared to most of the overspriced garbage locally on Craigslist, this Cimarron was a steal, but the starvin' boy played hardball on the price and finally I caved on his beer money since he was a beer lovin' fool after my own heart!!!

Yo Spiff

I've got another build getting ready to start. I picked up a '91 Schwinn Crosscut frame off CL. It's actually a cross bike or hybrid, but it did originally come with flat bars. I've been buying the parts for a few weeks now, as I've run across good deals on what I want. Found a set of Woodchipper bars on CL for only $40. Deore derailleurs from Ebay, a set of wheels with a Dynamo hub, some white painted v brakes that will look good on the white frame. Here's what it looked like when new:


'91 Schwinn Crosscut catalog page by Yo Spiff, on Flickr

I'll post some pics once there is something to see.

frantik

Took a nice ride today.. hit up a charity bike repair and resale place.. they had a lot of road bikes surprisingly few MTBs. Two mtbs did catch my eye.. a purple stump jumper with tange prestige tubing.. it was missing the crankset and BB but was incredibly light. i was about to find out how much they would sell me the incomplete bike for when i noticed the BB was thrashed... looked like they had to drill out the crank set or something, and parts of the BB cassette were still in there. I was BUMMED. The guy said they might be able to get it out and chase the threads with italian threading.. sounded like a pain, plus there was a ding in the top tube.

There was also a 1990 Trek 970 Single track.. it was lugged and had a cool splatter paint job, but even without the rear wheel it was suprisingly heavy, made with True Temper AT (a few years later they would start using True Temper OX)

was kinda disappointed about both of these bikes.. The stumpjumper i'm still considering going back for.. depending on the price it might be worth it

After the I checked out some bikes, I went for a ride around the guadelupe river park, one of my favorite places to ride. It's mostly paved, but there's a few spots where you can get in some off road action. I finally was brave enough to try out this one section which involves a few steep drops and climbs.. being in the drops on the Gary II bar makes me feel extremely confident both climbing and descending.

On my way home, I passed some people who had to get off their skinny 700c bikes to traverse an incomplete part of the path where it's dirt, gravel, etc... I just laughed as I bombed down the incline and shredded through the gravelly turns until the paved path started again

hairnet

That's funny, I was on a road bike the last time I went out to a fire road and I was passing mountain bike riders.

What bar is that? I switched to a threadless stem today and would like to eventually get some dirt drops

frantik

yeah to be honest i think more experienced riders with skinnier tires wouldn't have had to dismount... and i had no hope of catching other roadies on the paved parts, but i still laughed

the bar is a Origin8 Gary II bar which is my favorite of the modern dirt drop bars.

hairnet

Looks good. I did not want to pay up for something like a Salsa bar.


edit- apparently the Origin 8 does not accept bar end shifters

wrk101

I have a very similar 1992 Trek 950. Definitely on the heavy side for such a high end bike. I need to weigh my wife's TIG welded 1994 Trek 950, it sure feels A LOT lighter.

Prestige frame is top of the line for MTBs. And you can find threadless bottom brackets, sometimes called repair bottom brackets. Price is reasonable, but I have never used one.

Not the right size, but this gives you the idea:

https://www.amazon.com/Sunlite-Bottom.../dp/B001642Z48

LesterOfPuppets

Attn: frantic.
for that stumpjumper
https://www.outsideoutfitters.com/p-2...FcdxQgodj3sAbQ

-holiday76

Did ou go to that bike karma place ormwhatever its called, near diridon? I wanted to check it out. Also, i ride in guadeloupe allmthe time as its about 5 minutes from my house. Did you run over any homeless people or through a tent?

realestvin7

Finally finished my Trek 970. I think it turned out great. Sorry for the iPhone pic.

realestvin7

I probably owned the frame you picked up. Haha. Hope you find something sweet at the swap meet Sunday.

frantik

the "original" Gary bar doesnt take bar ends but the Gary II bar does

Yep that's the place. I've been meaning to check it out sooner but finally got a chance. They've mostly got road bikes from the 70s, but their stock is based on donations so anything could show up. There's also a Goodwill on 7th near Commercial road that advertises they show bikes on saturdays.. I went over there yesterday but I couldn't find the bikes.. but i showed up right at 1pm which is when they stop showing the bikes. And nah didn't run over anybody but i did see the tent city.. last time i was over there, I only saw two tents so I was pretty surprised by how many more were there



Thifty Bill and LesterOfPuppets, thanks for the heads up on the "threadless" BB.. now i gotta go back over there and find out how much they want for that stumpy.. hopefully they will let it go cheap!

Realestvin: sweet

realestvin7

Says the guy hatin' on heavy Trek 900 series MTB's. Lol.

Mine doesn't feel that heavy to me. What size is the one you ran across at the shop?

frantik

LOL i wasn't hating, just surprised it wasn't lighter since it was a 970. It was definitely heavier than the stumpy, though it was kinda hard to compare the two since they were both incomplete and missing different parts. I didn't measure the frame, looked like a ~20-21".. i think one size up from the one you got there

Gravity Aided

Got to agree with you there, Frantik. I've owned both in my search for the perfect MTB for commuting, and I think Stumpys are lighter and faster, although I admired the styling and the build quality of the Trek.

Yo Spiff

If it has a matte black, non-original fork, then it is yours. Heading to the swap meet now. If you are going to be there, I am wearing this t-shirt:

neo_pop_71

Well, the '85 Cimarron is shaping up to be a goodie! It took quite of bit of effort to remove years of filth and grease but after some polish I think she'll shine! I have to say, I am really impressed with the quality of the Shimano "Deerhead" XT components (not the lightest and not the heaviest either), really nice attention to detail. The derailleurs were is terrible shape but the elbow grease paid off and they're looking pretty good. I'm going to hit them with some SimiChrome and see if I can get them shining again. The fillet brazed fork is impressive with the double eyelets and mid-leg threaded brazed mount, it seems to be an ideal fork for mounting fenders and racks. Another Cimarron dirt drop is underway... I'll post updates with pics.

-D-

RFC

As I've said, this little corner of the hobby is wonderfully quirky fun. I get to treat old MTBs like legos with no guilt. I'm also learning what works and doesn't work for me. For example, the slack ST angle on the 86 Schwinn High Sierra (70 degrees) just does not work with my body type and I am more comfortable on the late 89's and early 90's bikes with steeper angles, like the 91 Haro Extreme and the 88 Procaliber.

Question: I have been sort of looking at an early 80's Stumpjumper with the biplane fork, but if the angles are likewise slack, it will mean that I won't ride it and just may pass. Anybody know the geometry of these old Stumpies"

mainstreetexile 

If 70 is too slack for you, I doubt you'll like them. I think the early ones were even more laid back, like 67.5/70, but they moved to 70/72 by 1985.

dveneman

Sweet Bianchi!!
I really like it and want one.
But stem shifters and dork disc?

frantik

haha awesome i know what you mean.. I love trying out new things on my mtbs

why do you think it's related to your body type? my 86 apex is very slack (68 degrees), and my 88 univega has a very steep head tube (71 i think) and I like both of them. the Univega has quicker handling but the Apex is steady as a rock especially at low speeds. I like the Univega for sport riding and the Apex for utility.

Grim

Measure before buying. I bought a relly nice low mile Rock hopper that will eventually be my kids bike when she grows some more leg. Decided to barrow the cranks and was losing my mind trying to get the BB into the bike I was going to use it on. Put a calliper on it and the Specialized has a 73mm BB.

frantik

^ thanks.. still debating if i should pick it up.. they don't open again till tuesday. has the original rockshox suspension fork.. seemed like it was ok but i don't know what to compare it to. not really a suspension kinda guy

robatsu

Well, I already had the bars made up and grafted them onto this bike. There isn't any place for downtube shifters because of the cable brazeons, stem shifters, which I had around, seemed like a quick and dirty deal, supports heads up riding. They are actually pretty fun, but you have to be secure in your manhood and all

But the dork disc, yeah, that is totally uncalled for. My only excuse is that this is a work in progress, a pre-release beta version at best.